Professor Matni is the best comm professor I had at UCSB. He is funny, engaging, and cares about his students. His lectures are all easy to follow along and understand, and he is clearly very prepared and passionate about the material. Class participation is graded but Matni is great at encouraging it and creating a welcoming classroom environment
This is my 2nd course with Matni since I enjoy his lecture style (similar to D. Mullin). He was receptive to student requests about COVID and his office hours were great. Lectures (always recorded) and readings were engaging and interesting. Grading included attendance, various assignments (including a group project), and a midterm + final exam.
Had him over the summer and thought he was such an amazing professor. I enjoyed his lectures and his assignments are thorough and clear.
Thought this class would be brutal based off the ratings but it was such a fun class. His lectures are so clear and he explains everything thoroughly
Taking Ziad Matni's COMM88 class was kind of like cheese-grating my frontal lobe for ten weeks. Matni struck me as a oaf immediately after reading his syllabus (which was copied from another professor), and seeing that most of a student's grade relied on one term paper and the final. Matni was concice, but lacked the skills needed to teach online.
Prof Matni is one of the best Comm professors I've had. He makes lecture material very clear, tests accurately reflect lecture and reading material, and he just makes class interesting all around. Would love to take another class with him in the future
Really nice guy, although he can be a little blunt/sarcastic at times. He is a very fair professor, nothing unreasonable and decently accommodating. He seems passionate about the things he teaches and gives good examples in his lectures. Nothing much more to ask for in a professor.
Dr. Matni is condescending often times when you ask him a question. He grades very strict and will purposefully put questions on tests and quizzes to trick you.
Dr. Matni is an amazing professor. His lectures are very helpful and fun to watch, and they cover everything in the textbook. He answers questions clearly on piazza and during lecture. Homework, labs, and quizzes are sometimes a little bit too much, but they are pretty easy and are good exercises. Overall a really enjoyable class.
He is a good lecturer that genuinely wants students to do well. The quizzes can be tricky though and they are a difficult but fair. He is very clear in terms of what is due at what time each week & actively encourages students to come to office hours. Prof Matni is very enthusiastic & has a great sense of humor too!
Solid professor, clear and organized lectures. Homework, quiz and labs simple. (1 each per week) Gave extra credit for (basically) free. Don't worry about the final. If you've taken APCS, this class is probably no problem at all. (A bit too simple of a curriculum, perhaps; it's not a lot of content).
I liked Matni a lot! He was really lenient on students during the pandemic and he dropped the lowest quiz gradehe also gave us an extra credit opportunity on the labs. I thought the final was pretty easy but still a good review of the course material.
Be prepared to lose lots of points due to minor errors. Dr. Matni does not explain things clearly, he will pose questions to your question and expect you to figure it out instead of just answering you. Some hw and quiz questions are chosen purely to trick you and not to see what you've learned, Dr. Matni even admits that himself in lecture.
Third class w/ Matni. Def my fav prof in CS dept. Good: -You learn the material for real if you pay attention, no need for youtube etc -Labs are set up well and clearly specify the requirements -Funny and helpful Bad: -Tough if you dont pay attention, but all his classes are required so you really should if you want your degree to mean anything
One of my favorite professors at UCSB! Since I took a summer class with Dr. Matni, I only had three weeks in his class however I learned more in those three weeks than I have in other 10 week classes. He is very accessible and lectures are engaging and entertaining. Would definitely take future classes with him!
Ive had professor Matni for Comm 88 and 169. I can honestly say hes my favorite professor at UCSB. His lectures are engaging, hes funny, and super helpful. He might come off as tough but if you go to office hours and ask for help, he will go above and beyond. Amazing professor and person! He is a must take as a comm major
One of my favorite professor in UCSB.
Ziad Matni is seriously one of the most thoughtful, kind and funny professors especially in pre-comm classes. He posts lectures online, but it is super important to go to class because his iclicker questions are extra credit and he supplements the lecture slides with important info for the tests. Midterm and final are hard, but he is helpful.
Hes pretty average professor, not too hard not too easy. Went to three lectures throughout the entire quarter and ended with a B+. The lectures are posted online and Iclicker was extra credit. Midterm/Final was based off of the lectures making the book optional or you could use it for more information. Tests were easier than Mullin's. Nice guy
If you can, I would def choose him over Mullin. He is very nice and helpful when you go to his office hours. He keeps tracks on who comes to his OH. So go if you can!
Not super nice but he's awesome on his lectures as he explains CS basics very clearly. 2 midterms & 1 final are fair if u do study based on slides. Lots of hw & labs so the study load might be heavy, but TAs & tutors are very accessible & helpful in open lab times. There's an assigned teammate for 1 project & some labs though u can sometimes solo.
His exams primarily focus on material from lecture, making the textbook essentially optional. Some of the labs must be done w partners, which is somewhat annoying since everyone in the class starts with different levels of programming experience. Overall Matni is a solid choice for CS8; he is a very clear (and funny) lecturer
Very nice person! Easy grader! He makes the lectures interesting and his slides are really clear! He kind of likes to have some multiple choice for definition or description on the exam so make sure to go over the slides for important terms. High average for two midterms. Final is a little bit hard but he curves. Office hour and open lab help.
Take his class if you are CS major otherwise avoid since his hws and exams pays attention to the details which would be helpful for CS major students. For other majors, just take it from some other instructors that are being easier in grading.